‘That’s probably because you’re too tense,’ Coe said. ‘And you’re using muscles you haven’t used before. Don’t worry, it gets easier with experience.’
‘I hope we don’t have far to go,’ Jimmy muttered.
Coe did laugh at that. ‘Look at the bright side; you’ll cover more ground on horseback.’
‘I just won’t be able to walk at the end of it.’
‘You’re young and fit, Jimmy; it’ll pass quickly.’ Coe moved a little ahead and said nothing else for a time, leaving Jimmy to sort himself out. After he and the horse had come to an understanding Jimmy rode forward until he was by the older man’s side.
Jimmy felt discomfort in his legs, but nothing compared to the discomfort he felt about Coe and his relationship to the men they were following. Acting casual, he asked, ‘These men you’re looking for, they’re friends of yours?’
Coe shook his head. ‘No. I just think they might have some information I need.’ He turned to look at Jimmy. ‘And you?’
The young Mocker distinctly remembered telling him that he was going to meet some friends. Evidently he hadn’t been believed. I was going to have to tell him the truth sooner or later. Might as well tell him now. ‘Truth is,’ he said cautiously, ‘I’ve never even seen them.’
‘Correspondents are you?’ Coe asked, grinning.
Jimmy didn’t even smile. Instead, he shook his head. ‘No, sir. It’s like this: Flora and I met this girl, a farm-girl just come into the city looking for her brother. She’s hurt and can’t go anywhere and she says these men took her brother from her family’s steading. She asked me to go get him back.’
‘Just like that?’ Coe asked. He looked genuinely astonished. ‘It’s very generous of you, Master Jimmy, but how were you planning to persuade them to give the boy up?’
‘First I needed a horse,’ the young thief replied, ‘so I was concentrating on that problem when you appeared. And the horse problem got resolved so quickly, well . . .’ Jimmy hesitated. ‘Truth is, I hadn’t actually planned that far ahead.’
Coe chuckled. ‘Well, isn’t this something?’ He shook his head, then said, ‘We seem to be following the same two men. They are very, very dangerous.’
Jimmy tried to sound confident. ‘I’ve had dealings with dangerous men before.’
Coe looked at Jimmy and there was no humour in his expression. ‘This is no lark, boy. So if you’ve any notions of doing heroic deeds with no one getting hurt I suggest you turn that beast around right now and hie yourself back to Land’s End. Because that’s not the way things will happen. These two have information I need, and they will probably be disinclined to give it freely. I expect blood will flow before we’re through. And since I don’t want you disturbing my plans I must insist that I be in charge. Because I do have a plan and I’m going to assume I’m also more experienced in this sort of thing. Follow my instructions, and we’ll try very hard to ensure that the blood which flows isn’t ours. Are we agreed?’
Jimmy sat silently, then he laughed. ‘I can’t begin to tell you how relieved I am to be with someone who has a plan. Because I was talked into this much against my better judgment and have no idea of what I’m doing.’ He let out a theatrical sigh of relief. ‘So what are we going to do?’
If the older man was taken aback by Jimmy’s practical enthusiasm he hid it behind an unmistakable expression of pure doubt. Then he sighed and picked up the pace. ‘First,’ he said, ‘we must find them.’
TWELVE - Escape
Two men crested the rise.
They rode into sight as they reached the summit of the next hill. Jimmy pointed them out, then turned to see Coe’s reaction. His companion wore a startled, unhappy expression, as though someone had just dumped something cold and slimy down between his collar and his skin.
Jimmy frowned, forgetting the areas he felt like rubbing at the moment. Which were many. ‘What’s wrong?’
Jarvis rubbed a spot on his chest, then grabbed something beneath the cloth of his shirt and pulled it away from his body. They’d been riding since mid-morning, about five hours or so as well as Jimmy could judge; he didn’t realize how used he was to the shadows of the city telling him what time it was. They hadn’t stopped to rest the horses either, and the animals appeared to Jimmy’s untrained eye to be no less fatigued than his legs and backside were. Moreover, Jarvis Coe hadn’t proven talkative along the way, and Jimmy was still a little vague on what it was they were going to accomplish once they got wherever they were going. He returned his attention to Coe, who still stared at the two men on the next rise.
‘Master Coe?’ Jimmy prompted.